Hi hi , guys i want to make a uplifting trance tracl but i need recomendations about scales, what do you think is much better to do this ..?, minor scales o major scales ..?.
Thanks in advance.
Uplifting trance scales
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- addled muppet weed
- 105849 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
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- KVRAF
- 4590 posts since 7 Jun, 2012 from Warsaw
Minor is the way to go, major is less common.
But of course you need to balance tonality on your own. Playing only minor or major chords won't sound trancy at all
But of course you need to balance tonality on your own. Playing only minor or major chords won't sound trancy at all
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Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
saddest of all keysI should think that if the goal is :uplifting tarnce: just do what everybody else does, yeah?
Serious/no snark: major or minor scale is not necessarily determinant like that; what is your idea? Does it have congruence with this or the other attributes or properties? 'D minor, the saddest of all keys' is a joke.
The crucial bit there is the piece is called Lick My Love Pump.
Last edited by jancivil on Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- addled muppet weed
- 105849 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
It's usually natural minor, sometimes borrowing sharp VII from harmonic minor (in A minor it will be G sharp and Emaj or E7 dominant chord).
Sometimes natural major, but less common.
Sometimes natural major, but less common.
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- addled muppet weed
- 105849 posts since 26 Jan, 2003 from through the looking glass
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
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- KVRist
- 116 posts since 18 Feb, 2012 from United States
Its interesting, I've found a lot of more modern Trance tracks are made in a major key, but use the relative minor for the intro/outro. But then, the Chord Progression starts on the I instead of the vi (or i in relative minor/Aeolian mode). Its also common to see minor chord progressions but that start on the IV of the major scale so they don't sound as "serious" (James Dymond does this a lot and it sounds really good). Minor keys tend to sound more "serious" (some people say "sad" but I don't think this is necessarily the case)
Most of the tracks I do are in Minor completely, but I don't think it makes sense to differentiate between the different "flavors" of minor. I usually borrow chords from the natural minor/Aeolian mode primarily, but in minor I find the V (instead of v; or the III in the relative major key) creates a stronger cadence so it makes sense to substitute that sometimes, especially at the end of a progression. You hear it quite a bit in uplifting trance such as this track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Bn2xwwZvw
This adds strong cadential motion because of the half step resolution from the #7 scale degree.
Often, Major and Minor keys are used "together". For instance, System F's "Out of the Blue" sounds like a minor progression even though it is clearly in a major key and starts on the I. A lot of tracks also use this technique where the progression starts on the I the first time and then when it repeats starts on the vi (or i in relative minor). This adds a lot of drama and "color" to an otherwise basic chord progression. In other words, whether you write in major or minor, there's a good chance you're going to be using minor chords in either case. It just depends on what you define as the "tonic"
As for the particular key, I don't think there's much difference between them. When selecting a key, if its a vocal track, it makes sense to work to what's in the vocalist's range. If its an instrumental track, then usually it makes sense to choose the key mostly based on how good the bass (in particular sub bass) sounds, and then make sure the melody sounds good transposed there too. Obviously there is some slight (and I mean slight) difference between the "sounds" of different keys when one uses the equal tempered scale, but this is largely unnoticeable, especially to the casual listener and even most producers. Guys like Adam Ellis recommend selecting a key by choosing a sub bass note that "rumbles" so you can feel it when you place your feet on the floor.
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